SAN AGUSTIN, Surigao del Sur (MindaNews / 10 July) – Under the sea – along the picturesque Britania Group of Islands off San Agustin town, in Surigao del Sur – lies an ugly contrast of the captivating view at the surface.
It’s like nature has pulled the unsightly under the rug, said veteran dive instructor Ronel Bacalla.
Bacalla, who has a passion for safeguarding marine life, blurted “devastated” to describe in a single word what is under the sea off San Agustin.
“Very distressing, nothing much to see there except for broken corals and patches of young corals and seagrass trying to regrow,” the dive expert quipped as he pointed out that it has become a personal advocacy for him to help bring back marine life in the area.
According to Bacalla, one need not be a marine biologist to be able to assess the devastation that was caused by dynamite and cyanide fishing in the past, extensively destroying marine life in Lianga Bay. This will take a very long time to recover, he said.
“But to help bring back life to our marine resources, we need marine biologists. That is why I am keen on helping them become skilled scuba divers so they can get closer and study better what needs to be done underneath,” he said.
Britania is a cluster of about two-dozen islands and islets with white sand beaches and natural rock formations that dot the turquoise waters of Lianga Bay, which was among the 11 bays in the country where millions of dollars in funds were poured for conservation efforts from 2016 to 2020.
Lure of tourism
Each Britania visitor pays P50 for entrance fee at a tourism collection booth at the Salvacion junction, before they can cross to the village that bears the name of the cluster of islands. The money collected goes to maintenance and tourism projects, reads a huge billboard at the booth.
It is cheaper here than in those well-known beach destinations in the Visayas and Palawan, said a front desk clerk at Viel’s Harborage, one of the many resorts along the shores in Britania.
Local authorities have been very active in promoting the place for tourism. Many resorts are expanding and sprouting along the coast of the bay. Hundreds of tourists, more during summer, flock to Britania daily for island-hopping tours, kayaking and some adventure rides, which give livelihood to residents.
“The place is stunning, like what you see in movies. It’s like being on a different planet,” remarked Grazielle Madamba, a Qatar-based overseas worker who was in Britania for a recent weekend break with her family.
The certified lady diver, however, said her underwater experience in Britania is not as exciting as in other places she had been to, “only few young corals, schools of small fish.”
Maybe authorities should also look underwater and give extra push to improve the situation – and perhaps the seabed can thrive back to life again, she said.
Call for support
Bacalla, who left a lucrative occupation in Davao City and opened his own dive shop in Britania, said he was triggered by what he saw underwater that “I want to help even with the little that I know.”
He said they are in constant contact with authorities on the urgent need to rehabilitate the marine resources in the bay, even showing video and photographs of the condition under the sea.
Bacalla said he has been sharing what he learned from other places to the local government, especially about potential threats to the environment.
The serious involvement of residents and local officials could play crucially in resuscitating the bay back to life, which needs the right balance between economic needs and a sustainable environment, he said.
The diver’s worry is on the dire situation of many coastal communities where many residents resort to things that further endanger the bay’s ecosystem. He said there are already fish cages along the shores of one of the islands and some people stay there, even if the law prohibits it.
The usual coastal clean-up activities being done during events are good but efforts must go beyond, which is long-term, relevant and more sustainable costal management, he suggested.
A newcomer to the place, the dive instructor admitted he faces a formidable task in helping safeguard the place from further destruction. “Who will listen to me without the help of authorities?” he pointed out.
Bacalla was optimistic, however, especially with what they started in one of the islands, where they have been putting artificial reefs. He said they will soon work in helping conserve the mangrove forests in the place using methods he learned in Palawan, where he also used to work.
Talks are underway with the local government in their plan to utilize the mangroves for tourism. “We can turn the mangrove forests here for adventure sites, like using canoes. This way we can better protect and conserve the mangroves,” he said.
Bacalla first came to Britania in 2016 as a visiting instructor, teaching scuba diving to marine biology students of North Eastern Mindanao State University. “It would be too expensive for the students to travel to Davao for seven hours each time, that is why I decided to come,” he said.
In 2021, after the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions were relaxed, Bacalla decided to stay for good in Britania to teach poor students and those who have interest in learning scuba diving, “whom I know can help later on in protecting and preserving marine resources.”
Starting with around 60 students, the number increased until Bacalla became a regular service provider of the university for their scuba diving lessons. That was when he had to put up his Alfred’s Dive Shop.
Bacalla’s shop offers certification courses in scuba diving, including lectures about marine life and the importance of environmental preservation.
“It is not about what we can earn as there is not much, but the fulfillment of having shared skills needed by potential assets in environmental protection,” he said.
But it is very disappointing that many marine biology graduates end up working in call centers or as office aides and other clerical jobs when they can do more to help protect the marine ecology, Bacalla lamented.
“They lack motivation and are lured instead by the glamour of working in call centers rather than being in environmental work,” he said.
Bacalla said there is no stopping in his drive to train and develop potential guardians of the environment. “I see them as the future of this place and they are the ones who must be there to ensure a sustainable environment.”
Challenges of poverty
A 2017 inception report by the Fisheries, Coastal Resources and Livelihood (FishCORAL) project noted that Lianga Bay is “threatened by increased tourism activities and other human intrusions.”
The report said Lianga Bay has been identified to be abundant in mangroves, sea grasses and corals, providing socio-economic benefits to fisherfolk in the area. But it also cited that mangrove forests are extremely vulnerable to human interference. “People want to live and work near the shorelines,” it said.
The report cited a 2014 paper which noted that “increase in both population and poverty have added pressure on the resources, subsequently resulting in increasing environmental damage, overfishing and alarming degradation of habitats.”
The report also stated that coastal marine habitats were being exploited beyond their capacity to recover as overfishing and destruction of coral reef, mangrove, sea grass and estuarine habitats continue.
As a response, the FishCORAL project came about to address the problem and provide alternative and sustainable livelihood to fisherfolk in the areas, the report said.
The FishCORAL project’s objective was to help reduce poverty incidence by raising household incomes in coastal communities of the 11 target bays through sustainable management of the coastal and fisheries resources and implementation of community-based enterprises.
The project was financed with $43.70 million, including a $30 million counterpart by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialized agency of the United Nations that works to address poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries.
The report said the project began in January 2016 and ended on December 31, 2020, with a 77.62 accomplishment rate, as it was confronted with issues and difficulties arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. (Rommel Rebollido / MindaNews)
